In fact, the Devils aren’t even in a playoff spot as the regular season approaches the one-quarter mark.

Yet there is no denying that they have found their footing with a 5-2-2 run that included a confidence-building victory over the Rangers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Why the turnaround from their 1-5-3 start?

1. The goaltending of Martin Brodeur

On Oct. 23 Brodeur suggested that Cory Schneider was now the Devils’ No. 1 goalie. His own record was 0-2-2 with a 3.40 goals-against average and .865 save percentage and he would sit out three games in a row and four of five.

Since then Brodeur has gone 5-1-0 with a 1.17 GAA and .949 save percentage and two shutouts. His record now is 5-3-2 with a 2.08 GAA and .913 save percentage.

“I think he’s back to where he needs to be and where he wants to be,” Dainius Zubrus said. “I think our goalie is the least of our worries. Marty is playing great and Schneids has had good games for us as well.”

Is Brodeur in a zone?

“I feel good. I just want to win games,” Brodeur said. “We’ve been winning as of late so if you call that a zone, it’s a zone.”

2. Cam Janssen’s injection of enthusiasm

Recalled from Albany (AHL) on Nov. 6, the right winger scored two goals in his first three games and has provided energy without hurting the team.

His positive personality has rubbed off on a team that was down.

“It’s just about hard work and sticking with it,” left winger Ryan Carter said. “The year didn’t start off the way we wanted to. It’s easy to kind of get negative and sulk a little bit, but Janny injected some positivity into us and, low and behold, look at what happened. He started scoring some goals and helping the team win and feeling good about things.”

3. The realization that defense wins games and low-scoring

One of the realizations that took time to sink in is that the Devils without Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk and even David Clarkson cannot match the firepower of opponents. So they’ve gone back to playing it tight and low-scoring.

“I think it’s knowing each other and our play in the neutral zone in the way that we don’t give up too many odd-man rushes. That really helps,” Brodeur said.

Goals have come from winning one-on-one battles and going to the net.

“I think overall we’re a little bit tougher to play against,” Zubrus said. “I can’t tell you exactly which areas but I think we’re more in sync with the forecheck or even playing in their end. Maybe early in the season we were kind of hoping to get pucks and we stayed in softer areas. Now I think we’re more involved, we’re battling and we’re winning more battles for sure. And I think we’re getting rewarded for that.”

4. Jaromir Jagr

Not much needs to be said of the 41-year-old winger. He’s been the Devils’ best forward on the ice and a sage in the dressing room.

For the Devils, those factors have added up to a turnaround.

“The first 10 games we put ourselves a bit in a hole, obviously. We all know that,” Zubrus said. “We see the standings. (The Rangers) had a couple of good weeks and climbed right back in there. Our goal is the same thing. Stay the course now and try to win as many of these close games as we can and try to put ourselves in the top eight.”